Cyprus News

Istanbul -
Two Turkish ships will begin drilling in search of oil and gas off Cyprus "in the coming days", Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday, in a move likely to stoke tensions on the divided island.

Nicosia -
A centuries-old mosaic of Saint Mark has gone on display at a Cyprus museum that now plans to reunite it with the 11 other apostles decades after it was looted in the island's Turkish-held north.

Nicosia -
Cyprus has welcomed home a rare sixth-century Christian mosaic from the Byzantine period four decades after it was looted from a church in the island's Turkish-held north, Cypriot authorities said Tuesday.

Nicosia -
Rival Cypriot leaders agreed Friday to open the first new crossing points in eight years across the island's divide in a move to improve the climate of the deadlocked talks process, the UN said.

Larnaca -
Cypriot low-cost carrier Cobalt Air announced it was cancelling all flights from Thursday after just two years in operation, leaving passengers stranded and scrambling to get their money back.

New York -
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says prospects for a Cyprus settlement remain alive, a year after a failed peace effort, and has instructed an envoy to press on with efforts to kick-start talks.

Istanbul -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed that Ankara will increase rather than reduce its troops numbers in Cyprus, a move that could further set back attempts to reunify the divided Mediterranean island.

Nicosia -
Hit by the tanking Turkish lira, breakaway northern Cyprus is struggling to fend off a crisis largely outside the control of the isolated enclave, which relies on Ankara for its economic survival.

Apo -
An Egyptian man accused of hijacking a plane and diverting it to Cyprus has been sent back from the Mediterranean island to his homeland after a two-year extradition battle, officials said Sunday.

New York -
The UN Security Council on Tuesday urged all sides in Cyprus to consider resuming talks on a settlement, a year after negotiations on reuniting the Mediterranean island broke down in acrimony.